Page 86 of Seeking Shadows

“I don’t know how to walk away when it comes to you.”

My lungs seized.

My heart skipped a beat, slamming against my ribs, messed up like everything else I felt when I looked at him.

I should hate this.

“I should leave you,” I murmured, gripping the collar of his jacket, my fingers trembling against the soaked fabric.

“Yeah, you should.” He looked at me with that damn soft yet firm gaze at the same time.

“But I can’t.”

The silence between us was heavy, vibrant, loaded with something I couldn’t name—and that scared me as much as it drew me in.

Then he touched my face, and I felt the shiver, the cold rain contrasting with the warmth of his touch.

“I’m thankful for that every day.”

And it destroyed me.

I pulled him to me, and our lips collided in a hungry, desperate kiss, as if the world around us was falling apart. The rain ran between us, but I didn’t even notice. All I felt was him.

His hands on me, his taste, his breath against mine.

He held me like I might run away.

I kissed him like it was my last chance.

And maybe it was.

The rain kept falling, dripping between us, but none of that mattered. My lips tingled from the kiss, my breath ragged, and Zane… he looked at me in that way that made my heart stumble.

“I’ve never kissed anyone in the rain,” I murmured, half-laughing, half-breathless.

He blinked, looking as surprised as I was. “Me neither.”

My chest tightened. There was something so stupid and beautiful about it.

We, two misfits, soaking wet and shivering, but stuck together, as if the universe had decided we had no choice.

A smile spread across my face before I could stop it. “So, was it good for you?”

He let out a sigh—the one he always let out when he thought I was being ridiculous, but deep down, he was trying not to smile, too.

“Obvious question, Mia.”

“I need to be sure.” I leaned in, my fingers tracing the line of his jaw, feeling his skin warm beneath the cold rain. “Maybe we need to try again, just to be sure.”

This time, he didn’t disagree.

CHAPTER 17

MIA

“Mommy, I don’twant to sleep alone.” My voice trembles, barely audible. One always stayed with me until I fell asleep. Without him, the darkness feels suffocating, as if it’s alive, filled with things I can’t see.

Her arms wrap around me swiftly, warm and fragile. “You can’t call me that, Mia. If anyone hears, they’ll hurt you.”

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